ISL: Kerala Blasters 2-1 Atletico de Kolkata - 5 talking points

Kerala Blasters hosted Atletico de Kolkata at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi. The game was surrounded with controversies, but Kerala Blasters eventually won the game 2-1 at their home ground. Iain Hume opened the scoring for the home side and Pedro Gusmao made it 2-0 for Kerala Blasters in the first half. Atletico de Kolkata's Fikru scored in the second half to stage a comeback for the away side, but an injury time volley by Atletico de Kolkata skipper Luis Garcia which clearly crossed the goal line was disallowed by the referee.Here are the 5 talking points from the game:

#1 Bright start to the game

Both teams started the game on the offensive. Atletico de Kolkata's Borja Fernandez made a sublime pass to Fikru, but the striker failed to convert which looked like an easy chance for the away side.

And It took just 4 minutes for the home team Kerala Blasters to score and take the lead. Raphael dangerous cross found Iain Hume and he did no mistake to put it past Atletico de Kolkata's goalkeeper Subhasish Roy Chowdhury.

Atletico de Kolkata had a few good chances in the opening minutes of the game, Borja Fernandez and Jofre combined well with Fikru, but failed to produced a goal for the away side. Atletico de Kolkata won 3 corners in the first fifteen minutes and kept looking for an equalizer.

#2 Atletico de Kolkata dominate, but Kerala Blasters more clinical in the first half

Atletico de Kolkata dominated major parts of the first half, despite going a goal down. Spaniard Jofre looked sharp and was all over the Kerala Blasters' defense. With skipper Luis Garcia on the bench, Atletico de Kolkata were dependent on Jofre for all the creativity. Fikru tried a bicycle kick of a Lester Fernandes cross, but it was high over the crossbar.

Atletico de Kolkata came close to scoring a few times, but nothing more than that. The away side failed to manage too many shots on target. Kerala Blasters scored another goal before the end of the first half, with the goal coming from Pedro Gusmao. Jhingan sublime cross found Pedro and he made no mistakes to find the back of the net.

#3 Entertaining second half

Kerala Blasters dominated the second half of the game. Atletico de Kolkata made two changes in the half-time, Luis Garcia came in for fellow Spaniard Arnal and Kingshuk Debnath replaced Lester Fernandes. Luis Garcia looked sharp after coming on and was involved in a couple of attacks early on. Kingshuk Debnath made an immediate impact as his dangerous ball into the box was misjudged by Hengbart and it fell to Fikru who made no mistake to make it 2-1.

Soon, Kerala Blasters started dominating the game and started looking for another goal. Penn Orji looked quite impressive for the home side and made few intelligent runs in the middle of the park. Stephen Pearson was also brilliant throughout the game for Kerala Blasters.

#4 Poor referee decisions once again cost Atletico de Kolkata crucial points

Luis Garcia volley crossed the line, but the goal was disallowed by the referee and cost Atletico de Kolkata the game. In second half of the game, Garcia thought his volley went past David James and cleared the goal-line and the tv replays confirmed the ball crossed the line, but both the referee and linesman disallowed the goal.

Apart from the goal, Atletico de Kolkata also had a couple of penalty decisions not given.

#5 Atletico de Kolkata toothless without Luis Garcia

Atletico de Kolkata rely too much on their skipper Luis Garcia and that was once again made clear. Luis Garcia didn't start the game for the Kolkata outfit and was only brought on after the first half, when Atletico de Kolkata was trailing 2-0. Luis Garcia made an immediate impact after coming on and looked brilliant for Atletico de Kolkata. Without their skipper, Atletico de Kolkata failed to create any pressure on Kerala Blasters and looked toothless.

Luis Garcia scored in the injury time and thought he has earned his team a valuable point, but both the referee and linesman disallowed the goal.